


None of the King's Horses and None of the King's Men

by misura



Category: Not If I Save You First - Ally Carter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Huddling For Warmth, Multi, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21547252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Maddie, Logan and Stefan need to spend a night together in the shack.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	None of the King's Horses and None of the King's Men

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nerissa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerissa/gifts).



Logan remembered the first time he had seen the shack, when it had looked like shelter. Safety.

It still looked like shelter, but it no longer looked safe. Sure, it would be warmer in there than out here, and there probably weren't going to be any bears, but there _was_ going to be a man with a gun in there, who kept looking at Maddie in a way Logan really didn't like.

Stefan wanting to kill _him_ , Logan could understand. More or less. At the very least, he could accept it. He didn't even take it personally, because he knew it wasn't.

But Stefan wanting to hurt Maddie? That, Logan couldn't accept at all. _That_ , Logan took very personally. And the fact that he knew Stefan couldn't care less about how he felt, or how Maddie felt, and that all the feelings in the world weren't going to change reality - that didn't help at all.

"You," Stefan told Logan. "Build a fire."

Logan knew that if Stefan had told Maddie to build a fire, she'd have found a way to turn the situation to her advantage. He just knew it.

Too bad he had no idea _how_ she would have done so. All Logan could do was do what Stefan had told him to do and build the fire. It took forever - not because Logan was dawdling for tactical reasons or anything, but because building a fire was _hard_.

Logan knew all about how it should work, in theory. He did everything by the book.

Stefan watched him like a hawk. Logan wanted to tell him that he should be watching Maddie; _she_ was the dangerous one, not Logan. Logan was the useless one, the damsel. If Stefan hadn't figured that out by now, he was an idiot. An idiot with a gun.

Logan didn't know if he wanted Stefan to be an idiot. He did know that what he wanted didn't matter.

All that mattered was what he did, and right now, that meant getting a fire going.

"Finally." Stefan groaned.

_If you think you can do it faster, next time, you do it,_ Logan thought, but then Stefan started pulling at Maddie's clothes, and for a moment, Logan stopped thinking entirely.

"What do you think you're doing?" Maddie's voice sounded calm. Controlled. "I know these clothes don't really bring out my eyes, and of course they clash a bit with the decor, but in case you hadn't noticed, there's a bit of a shortage of shopping malls around here. A girl has to make do."

"They're wet," Stefan said. "You keep them on, you die."

"You make me walk around naked or in my underwear, I'll die, too," Maddie said. "Of embarrassment. I've heard it's a horrible way to go, worse even than hypothermia."

Stefan looked at Logan. "Find some other clothes. For all of us."

_You should have thought of that before you started stripping people,_ Logan thought. He tried to keep feeling annoyed. Feeling annoyed was much better than feeling angry, or scared.

Maddie wasn't the girl Logan had known six years ago anymore. She'd grown up. She was beautiful, and brave, and smart, and perfect, and Logan wanted to take her into his arms and promise her that everything was going to be all right. The reverse, Maddie hugging _him_ would also be acceptable. Logan wasn't picky.

"Did you hear me?" Stefan snapped, raising his gun as if he considered shooting Logan over some clothes. "Get moving." His other hand had been resting on Maddie's body. Her _clothed_ body, but Logan still got the message loud and clear.

It didn't matter whether or not Stefan would really strip Maddie naked and keep her that way while Logan hunted down some clothes. Logan couldn't take that risk.

Besides, it was not as if there were all that many places to look. In Logan's other home - _there_ , he could have spent days looking for one specific thing. Weeks. Although he probably wouldn't have been allowed to, because there were people who would do that sort of stuff for him, and be a lot more efficient about it, too.

Maddie didn't protest when Stefan started stripping her again. Maybe she felt as helpless as Logan, as crushed that they had gotten caught again.

Logan didn't believe that. Nothing could ever crush Maddie's spirit. Nothing could make Maddie feel helpless.

_Except you,_ a voice in the back of his head whispered. _And then you lied about it, too._ Maybe Logan should have written back. Maybe if he had, they wouldn't be here now.

Maybe it would have just been him, and Stefan, somewhere other than Alaska. That sounded pretty good to Logan right about now.

"Shirt next," Stefan said behind him, and Logan forced himself to focus on the now. The real world.

Logan stripped quickly, methodically. There was no reason not to. He had nothing Stefan might be interested in.

"Bet you're popular with the girls, eh?" Stefan said. "Good-looking boy like you."

_I'm not a boy,_ Logan wanted to say, _I'm a man,_ but what would that accomplish? Let Stefan dismiss him as a pretty boy, someone useless. He'd find out he was wrong soon enough. _Or not. Maybe he's right._ Logan knew a lot, and he was smart, but he didn't have a black belt in karate or anything. He wasn't a superhero, or even a secret agent.

Maddie looked tense as Stefan walked over to Logan, like Logan was a new car he considered buying and he wanted to get a closer look.

They probably didn't have a lot of car dealerships in Alaska either.

Stefan reached out and put a hand on his arm. A secret agent could have used that against him, turned the situation from Stefan touching them while they were less than fully dressed into them putting Stefan in a headlock, or holding him at gunpoint with his own gun.

Maddie snorted. "He lives in the White House. Not like he needs his looks to be popular."

"You date a lot of girls?" Stefan asked. He didn't look at Logan as he asked his question.

"Well, given my experiences with boys thus far, I might be tempted, but alas." Maddie sighed. "I considered bears, but a girl has to have some standards, you know. And they're so hairy."

Logan didn't move. Having Stefan touch him like this felt strange. It didn't feel like Stefan was threatening him, and yet Logan felt the adrenaline rush through his body, getting him ready to fight or flee. Logan knew he wasn't going to do either. Not as long as Stefan had Maddie.

"I asked you a question, President's Son," Stefan said.

Logan realized he didn't want to answer that question. He didn't want Maddie to know how many girls he had dated. Girls who weren't Maddie. Girls who could never be as wonderful as Maddie, who could never make Logan feel about them the way he felt about Maddie.

It was silly, of course. He realized that, too. "Some," he said, hoping that would satisfy Stefan.

"Some," Stefan repeated. Then he laughed. "You're an idiot. You have a girl like that waiting for you here, and you waste time with others? Stupid."

"Excuse me," Maddie said. "If you think I was waiting for him, you are wrong. In fact, you're so wrong the word 'wrong' feels like a gross understatement."

Stefan stepped back from Logan. "Enough talk. Time to rest."

"This is silly," Maddie said. "There's three of us, and none of us is going to get warm alone."

_Know what's_ really _silly?_ Logan wanted to ask. _Inviting the man who's kidnapped you to come over and cuddle. Now_ that's _silly._ Maddie probably had a plan, he told himself. Maddie being Maddie, it would be a good plan. A great plan.

None of that meant Logan had to like the idea of Stefan - _stop this,_ Logan told himself. _Stop thinking._ It would be three of them, all together. What was Stefan going to do?

"Speak for yourself," Stefan said. Apparently, Stefan was going to turn Maddie's suggestion down flat.

For once, Logan almost approved of Stefan's priorities and refusal to get any friendlier.

"Logan's cold. I'm cold," Maddie said. "We're no good to you if we get sick. We won't be able to walk as fast if we're unable to get a good night's rest."

"You'll walk as fast as I tell you to walk," Stefan said.

Maddie sighed. "Boys! Idiots, all of you."

"I can't feel my toes anymore," Logan said. "That's how cold I am." It was a lie, but he felt he had to do something to help Maddie with her plan, even if he didn't know what Maddie's plan actually was.

Stefan muttered something in Russian. "You really want me to come over there and warm you up?"

_No, I don't. I want you to stay the hell away from Maddie,_ Logan thought. He kind of liked the idea of getting to put his arms around Maddie again. He liked that idea a lot.

He'd just rather do it without Stefan there. And in a real bed. And in a real house. Without a real Russian assassin-slash-kidnapper around. That would be perfect.

Too bad the real world wasn't that perfect.

"Don't try anything," Stefan warned.

Maddie scoffed. "Don't worry. You're not my type."

"Da. You like boys, not men," Stefan said. "Pretty ones, like this one here."

On the one hand, Logan wanted to object to being talked about as if he were some _thing_ A fashion accessory, at best. Logan knew he'd look good on Maddie's arm, but that didn't mean he wasn't a person, with feelings and opinions and things he wanted to say.

On the other hand, he didn't think anything he said could improve the situation. A bear deciding to break down the door might improve the situation. The shack collapsing might improve the situation. But Logan opening his mouth and saying something? No way _that_ was going to improve the situation. The best thing he could do would be to pretend he wasn't there.

Stefan had put Logan in the middle. Logan had liked that, had liked being between Stefan and Maddy in a literal, physical sense.

Maddie's body was soft, but tense. Stefan's body was hard, but warm. Logan kept reminding himself that Stefan was a bad guy, and hugging him would be embarrassing, even if Logan would only do it because he wanted to get warm. Of course that would be the only reason Logan would ever hug someone like Stefan. Logan had fooled around with a few boys, but there was a world of difference between making out with another boy because you liked him and being attracted to the man who'd kidnapped you and killed at least two people in cold blood.

"I don't like Logan that much," Maddie said. "I like him more than I like you, sure, but that's not exactly a high bar to clear."

"That hurts my feelings." Stefan didn't sound at all like Maddie had hurt his feelings. "A girl as clever as you should have better taste. He's all looks, after all. What use are good looks, in a place like this?"

"I have a name, you know. And brains," Logan said. "I'm more than just a pretty face."

Stefan wriggled a bit, and Logan told himself that he could do this, that Stefan was all talk, that no one was going to get hurt tonight, except maybe Stefan, if Maddie's mysterious plan worked.

"Nyet. You are an idiot with a pretty face who should learn when to keep his mouth shut."

"You really think I'm pretty?" Logan had meant to sound fake-flirtatious, like he was making fun of Stefan for talking about Logan the way he did. Like Stefan calling him 'pretty' gave Logan some sort of power over him. Like Stefan wasn't still the man with the gun, the man whose hands weren't tied.

Instead, he sounded nervous. Scared.

Worse: he sounded like someone who needed Maddie to protect him. Logan knew that was true enough, but that didn't mean he liked admitting it out loud.

If he thought Maddie had seemed tense before, it was nothing to the way she seemed now. Her body felt like a wound spring, quivering against him, ready to jump into action - except that there was nothing she could do that wouldn't get her killed, or hurt, and Logan just couldn't let that happen.

He'd been right when he'd told himself the best thing he could do would be to keep quiet. Too bad he hadn't listened to himself. The story of his life, really: he never listened to anyone.

"No," Stefan said at last. "I do not like pretty boys like you. I like smart girls, like her."

_Her._ Maddie. Logan wanted to scream at Stefan that it didn't matter who or what he liked. Logan would never let him hurt Maddie. He wouldn't even let Stefan touch her - except that Stefan already had, and Logan hadn't been able to do a thing.

"Thanks. I'm flattered. Though I have to tell you, as first dates go, this one hasn't impressed me very much so far. A girl likes to feel special, you know," Maddie said.

"You are very hard to impress, aren't you?" Stefan chuckled. "Did _he_ ever manage that feat?"

"A lady doesn't kiss and tell," Maddie said. "And a girl's got to have some secrets."

"I've seen you kiss him," Stefan said. "He looked like he enjoyed it a lot. You must be a good kisser."

"Yes. I got a lot of practice in this place. It's great for picking up all sorts of techniques."

"With the bears?" Stefan asked. Logan realized with a bit of a shock that Stefan had just made a joke, and it hadn't even been about killing someone.

"Bears are terrific kissers," Maddie said. "Try it sometime. You'll be amazed."

Stefan chuckled again. "And very dead, too, probably."

"Well, you know what they say. No guts, no glory. You're not scared, are you? A man like you. That would be disappointing."

"You talk too much," Stefan said. "You wanted to get warm, to sleep. Now, sleep, or I will find a way to make you be quiet."

Logan waited for Maddie to give him a sign, some sort of hint about what she wanted him to do. If Stefan fell asleep, they might be able to do something. Overpower him before he woke up, get the gun away from him, work their hands free somehow.

Then, when the Secret Service or Maddie's father showed up, they could look at them and ask them, _'What took you so long?'_. They'd take Stefan away and lock him up, and Logan would never need to worry about him hurting or touching Maddie again. That would be something.

A fantasy, probably. A nice idea. Something to keep Logan warm that didn't work nearly as well as cuddling up to Stefan - not that there was any actual cuddling going on, of course; it was just that Logan couldn't think of the right technical term right now, because he was so tired.


End file.
